Royal couple join Bridgerton stars and Mary Berry at Chelsea Flower Show

The King and Queen have toured the Chelsea Flower Show - joining celebrities including Dame Mary Berry, Dame Judi Dench and the stars of Bridgerton.

The royal visit on Monday, before the event opens to the public, came just days after the King became the new patron of the show's organisers, the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS).

Highlights of this year's displays include gardens filled with drought-resilient plants, water storage features and green innovations, as part of efforts to embrace sustainability and a future with climate change.

Queen Camilla also viewed the Bridgerton Garden, inspired by the romantic drama's character Penelope Featherington, played by Nicola Coughlan, whose love story is one of the main themes of its recently-released third season.

Earlier, Ms Berry, 89, a former judge on The Great British Bake Off, also took in the garden, as did Hannah Dodd and Ruth Gemmell, who play Francesca Bridgerton and her mother, Lady Violet, in the hit Netflix series.

Dame Judi Dench placed a seedling from the Sycamore Gap tree, which was felled in an act of vandalism last year, in the National Trust's Octavia Hill garden.

The seedling, named by Dame Judi as Antoninus after the adopted son of Emperor Hadrian, will be on display during the show.

The veteran actress, 89, also met with naturalist and TV presenter Chris Packham.

Andrew Jasper, director of gardens and parklands at the National Trust, said he hoped visitors would take inspiration from seeing the seedling.

He said: "When we first saw the seedlings germinate, we knew there was hope for the tree's future."

Ms Berry also visited the National Garden Scheme garden, joined by the Chelsea Pensioners from the nearby Royal Hospital Chelsea.

The TV chef is the president of the scheme, which gives people access to over 3,500 private gardens in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

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Dame Joan Collins, Carol Vorderman, Dame Joanna Lumley, Gabby Logan and Bruno Tonioli were among the other celebrities who visited the show, which opens to the public on Tuesday.

Sustainability is one of the themes of this year's show, with the RHS introducing a "green audit" for larger gardens and handing out an environmental innovation award for the first time.